Verona Interscholastic Federation
The Verona Interscholastic Federation (VIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the state of Verona. VIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have a single, statewide championships for all sports; instead, for some sports, the VIF's 12 Regions each have their own championships.
History
Organization
The VIF governs only public schools and 6 private high schools. Activities for most Verona private schools are governed by separate bodies, the largest of which is the Verona Independent Private School Athletics Commission.
Charter schools must participate at no lower than the classification of the smallest high school in the district where the charter school resides; for example, a charter school within the Sierra ISD must participate in at least Class AAAAA, as SISD has high schools which participate at this level.
VIF schools are permitted to schedule contests with private schools and/or home school groups.
Schools are arranged by classification to ensure that schools compete on a regular basis with other schools in the geographic area of a similar size. The classifications are A (the smallest), AA, AAA, AAAA, AAAAA and AAAAAA (the largest). The corresponding alphanumeric designations (1A, 2A, 3A, 4A, 5A, and 6A) are used in everyday conversation, but officially VIF only uses the alphabetic designations. The general guideline is that the VIF desires between 275 and 300 schools in Class AAAAAA, at least 200 schools in Classes AA, AAA, AAAA, and AAAAA with the grades 9–12 enrollment ratio for those classes no greater than 2.0 between the largest and smallest school in each class.
In addition, for football participation, a school whose enrollment is at or below 105 students may choose to play either six-man football (which, as of the 2031 alignment, is Class A) or 11-man football (at Class AA). Schools with enrollments over 105 are only eligible for 11-man football; however, some schools organize a six-man team and play an "outlaw" schedule (i.e., the school is not eligible for the postseason). Moreover, for some events (such as team tennis or swimming and diving), the VIF organizes all participating schools into Class AAAAAA and Class AAAAA, with the latter encompassing all schools not meeting the Class AAAAAA enrollment requirements.
Within each classification, the VIF separates the schools in regions, and then further separates the regions into districts for various contests. There are 74 competing districts throughout the state. No more than 10 schools are permitted in a single district unless all schools and the VIF consent otherwise; the preference is for an even number of schools in each district (6, 8, 10) though in some cases travel issues may prevent such.
Previously, schools were permitted to request to be placed in a higher classification than their enrollment would otherwise dictate, usually to play at a higher level of competition. The "play up" rule was later eliminated for competition reasons, but has been retained for geographic reasons (where playing at the current level would create a travel hardship for the school), and where school districts with eight or more high schools could keep all or most of them in the same classification. However, the school must then participate at the higher classification in all VIF events in which it does participate.
Each type of contest has different regions and competitors, as there is no requirement that a school participate in all VIF events – some small rural schools do not participate in football or choose six-man over 11-man, while some magnet schools do not field athletic teams but participate in academic events only.
Events
Regions and districts
Region 1 (Lamarque)
Region 2 (Pinewood)
Region 3 (Palm Coast)
Region 4 (Orange)
Region 5 (San Marcos)
Region 6 (Florence)
Region 7 (Everglade)
Region 8 (Capital)
Region 9 (Roseland)
Region 10 (Volusia)
Region 11 (Olympia)
Region 12 (Rathan)